Construction of vehicle-tires.



P. L. 0. WADSWORTH.

CONSTRUCTION 0F VEHICLE TIRES.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 17, 1911,

Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Atty

F. L. 0. WADSWORTH. CONSTRUCTION oT VEHICLE TIRES.

APPLICATION FILED OOT.17, 1911. i 1, 1 1 1,41 9. Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

, @Mww 2 2 aen-M7 rmx'r.. o; wansy'ronm' or emanan; Pinstnvnnag. v

cons'ravcriou or immens-rms.

manada; of man hun# Patented sept. 22, i914.

pruimen 17,1'911. i seminasusss.

Tb al'whom it .may concem Be it known that I,'FRAN1 L. 0.

- Won'rn, aresident of Sewickley,in the county,l

of Allegheny and Stateof' Pennsylvania,l

.have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lthe 4Construction of Vehicle- Tires,` of which the following is a specification.

My. invention relates to the'construction of tires for wheeled vehicles,,particularlyl of that class which Ais Amotor'drivengand the which are completely c vered particular object pimy invention is to provide a yieldin and resilient tire which will prevent the w eel on w 'ch it is placed both from slipping when Vpoweris appliedito it and from -skiddin or sliding aterally on sm'poth or wet ron. ways. Il accomplish thisobject by providing the tire with-a tread of rubber or analogous-material and embedding therein a seriesof rows of stii spring wire bent to form a succession of triangular Afolds in such manner that the' wire formswhen so embedded present' a-series of points lying substantially flush with the outer portion` o the tread and an Vintermediate,series of parts andburied within the tread material. I thus'obtain a .tread surface which '1.' .,.sents aseries of hard metal sections meeting .e 'surface of the tire-and the surface o1' the'roadI on which f the 4tire rests-fat a considerable angle, so

that these-metallic sections will act like a series' of ratchet .teeth in gripping the-road surfa and preventing the slip ing or slidingdfche Atire in any direction ereon.

A further-` object'of my invention is to obtain a composite tread construction'of'the charxterjust referred to in which the dif# ferent arts ofthe wire insertions will be securely eld in the'rubberl or other trea material until the tire has been completely worn out.

A still further obj ect of my invention is to .s'implify'the construction of this .class of tires, to decrease the'diilicu'ltyof embedding the lWire forms-in the tread material, and to reduce' the cost of manufacture.-` 4

Other *objects-and, advantages of 'my improvedconstruction appear from the following*- descriptions of structures and methods of :manufacture which I'present as illustrative embodiments of my invention'.

In the drawings which form apart of this f .specication,. 1 illustrates partialcircumferential cross L section a' eomposite rubberfwire construction formed 'ln-ac- -of Fig.I 1. after my method 'of assembling cessive alternate 'l 'wise in opposite directlons so as to cordance with my invention; F' 2 illustrates a transverse cross-section on the line Xl--X of. Fig. A1; Fig. 3-is a. view showing 1n cross-section .the construction the outer surface of the tire has worsncaway 1toa degrel; Fig. 4 is crossiona view in 'ca e manner in which the wire .and rubbelt"mg r composite tread are 'assembl form the finished structure; Fi

orms alone;

viewV showing one of the Figs. 6 and I are cross-.sectional views of different lnnds of wire which maybe used; Fig. 8 1s a sidelview of ali sc rtion; Fig.`9 is a plan view of thesame; Fig. 10 is'anend view, section the manner in isaplan filled with Vtread material preliminary to the assembhng of the parts.4 which form the 0 -thc'same' rtions of the'- in tion tov other form of wire in` also showing in crossl which the space "be-4 Y tween the bent sides ofA each wire form is yfinished Structure;. Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic side view of a machine adapted improved structure; Fig. 12 is a crosslsection on the hne-Y Y of Fig. 11; Fi 13 is a cross-section@ the line 13-13 of ig. 11; and Fig. 14 1s a cross-sectional view also illustrating myimproved method ofthe as- V sembly ofthe different parts. A

.The saine reference numerals indicatethe to ca 'out the partsrg my:

same or corresponding 'parts in the different drawings.

In my parts', which are indicated b the reference numeral 1' are :formed by Wire longitudinally so as to produce succession of triangular folds improved construction the such as` are.' shown in- Fig. 1' or Fig.- 8. This may bel readily done by passing the-wire between` two 4wheels rovided 'withyintermeshingteeth being separated a allow for the passage of the wire between them. The form thusfobtained is next subjected to ,an

olds 'or loops are bent sideend along one side. As anext step in the operation I fill the space or openpresent,

teethjof the triangular form uired these! inegi aistan to operation -by which the suc ing between the oppositely .bent folds or 'loops Awith tread material' SQ 8 8 to'obtainxa i rstbypressure and n v strip such is indicated at 2. This opera-i tion can he readily performed by lalying the wire form in a grooved block (see ig. filling the ortion of the groove not occupied with ewire with the rubber or other iexible material` used in the tread by inserting it through the open side of the wire structure, and then rolling the material down until it completely surrounds the wire forms and produces a composite strip which canl be handledV as aunit. kThe strip thus obtained being of a solid triangular formV in cross-section'can be easil1 handled, and when vlaid on its side it wil readily retain the position in which it is placed. yAs a next step in the formation of the completed structure I 'mold raw plastic rubber or other suitabletread material to such a form as is --shown in cross-section in Fi 4 (which re resents the tread portion l,o an automobi e tire) and form in the outer portion of this section a seriesl of triangular grooves 3 53 of suitable form to receive the stri s'2 A. 2. "The main tread section is pre erably built up on a form or mold ring 4, and the grooves 3 3may be forme in the .outer surface-of the tread by means of a series of grooving or stitching ,wheels, which are indicated in. dotted lines in 4. AI .next assemble the' lparts to 'forni the com leted tire-by layingit e strips 2 2, in t 'e 'ooves 3. t 3, and comacting the .whol e intoa unitary structure then by subsequent curing or vulcanizinlgnin case rubber isused as tire material. r .this latter case I prefer to increase the adhesion between the rubberand the' wire parts by copper plating or silver platingthe latter so as to form on 40 vulcanization a layer of copier or silver suld between the. metal an .therubber.

This also serves to rotect the metallic parts'J from oxidation in t e subsequentuse of the tire. The. adliesive effect between thevrubber and thewire may also be increased, if

desired, by -usin wire of the cross-sectional frm shown-in 'gs. f'i-and 7; and .this form of wire has the further advantage of -bein more easily-'bent to, form sharp pointe wfolds, while retaining th'e samei'strengthas ordinary round: wire. u The completed structure which is lshown in Figs. 1 and 2, resents,'as will be readil seen, a series o metallic portions whic i6 meet the. surface of the tire at an acuteangle when viewed in either circumferential or transverse cross-section. Theseportions. actlike ratchet teeth to dig into and grip any surface with which the tread `of the tire 00 may bein contactand to thus prevent Aany slip". or slidingbetween the two contacting In the form of wire. insertion shown in Fi 1, this ratchet tooth 'action is accentuate inone .circumferentiall direc'- "what diagrammatically a machine for car- 'whic has'been the said. form is justl necessary `material to shaft 8, and two lateral l surfaces Yof ses by-mung mh foie subtially of the form of a right angled ti'iaiigle; and in this case the wire forms are generally inserted in the tread .in such position that the'longer sideof the triangle'4 oints l in the direction in which the' wh nor- 70 mally revolves. In the form of wire insertion shown in vFi 8 and 9 the angularlyY bent portions of t e wire are symmetrically 'disposed with 'respect to the tread surfacey so as to obtain ,the same gripping action in 75" both circumferential directions. -The 'bend- .ing of the successive triangular folds in `opposite lateral directions makes the sides of 'these folds meet the surface ofthe tire at such an angle (as shown in Fig. 2) that 80 there will be a ratchet tooth` action in preventing the sliding 'or skiddin of the tire in either direction at right an es to the circumfer'ential line ofstravel. the surface of the tire wears away the extreme outer points of the .triangular folds will lbe valso worn away, so that the wire insertions assume the form of separated trian ar staples as 'shown inv F1 3. v But't is in no way decreases the gripping action, in fact it rather tends .to increase it. The .trianlar form of the fold prevents 'any loosen-l ing of thel now separated parts of the wire insertions, and by virtue of this triangular form the amount ofrubberlor tire-material coverin the' metallic portions' is always proportional to vthe length of such portions remaining in the tread.

In Figs. 11.`and 12 I have shown someout the method of tire construction already described. In this 'machinethe circular mold or form fifis centered on a rotating frame v5 by means ofarms 6, 6 and is secured thereto b radially movable clamp blocks 7, V The 'ame 5 is mounted on a shaft 8 supported in suitable bearings and driven eitherby hand o''by power, asmay be desired. A series of sets of molding orforming-.rollers Aare arranged 110 adjacent to the periphery of thecircular tire form 4 in such osition zthereto that the'space between-the ollers land surface of suiiicient to admit the formi the completed structure. Eaclfset of these rollers preferably consist of initialformer, 9, mount ed on a shaft, 10, which is. parallelto the farmers 11l and 12 13 and-14 which are at4 mountedl on 'sha 120 various -shafts' 'may be-4 'by suitable aringe-not shownff-with the shaft v8 so -t at the. mean peripheralspeedxof the the 'rollers is substantially the same as-the inean ripheral Speedo l the adjacentpartsgofgt e mold* 4. Iiiy the rst two sets thc-'central rollers. 'andl 9*- ai-,e provided shallow ribs-co ondmaui Postma-wth Pm.' 0f the vmi miao which the triangular strips 2 l 2 are to n be located, and just in front of these two sets I place'a series-of grooving or stitching wheels 15, 16, 17, 16, and 15* which have the form and position indicated by .dotted lines of Fig. 4, and which are adapted to deepen and complete the groovesformed in the tire material by the corr'esponding ribs on the two preceding rollers 9 and 9. Following this set of grooving or stitchin 7 wheels I arrange a series of sets of mol ing wheels 9, 11", 12E; 9, 11, 12; etc., all of whose surfaces are plain. In the formation of the tire I rst secure the end of a strip of canvas 18 to the mold ring 4 by means -of a thin sheet metal clamp 19-or 1n any other desired manner-and then by the rtationof the mold rin in the direction ofthe arrow, I lead th1s strip together with a strip or strips 2O of the raw tire material under the'rst set of molding rollersv 9, 11 and 12. These rollers together with the following set of rollers 9", 11, and 12a mold the tire material to the generalmold ring 4. The shallow grooves formed by the ribs in the rollers 9 and 9* are next deepened and completed by the passage fof the molded section under the stitching wheels 15, 16,17, 16 and 15, so that the tire section now presents the appearance shown in the lower portionof the section of Fig. 4. Asthis section passes under the rollers 9", 11"', and 12", the triangular strips 2, 2, 2, which have been previously built up in the manner already described, are led into the grooves 3, 3,- 3, and are rolled down into those grooves and unitedto the lbase of the tire`seetion-b the A'pressure of the forming roller 9b. he action of the succeeding sets o f rollers 9, 11, 12; 9, 11, 12d; ete-which may be as manyin'number as required-#serves to complete and perfect the union between the parts of the tire struc ture and impart to it its" final form and outthough the-amount of that materiala may vary slightly by reason 'of irregulariways exerted on the tire 'material evenA form required on the canvas base 18 and the' line. As this\action generally results also in ties inthe supply of -such material to the' initial set` of rollers 9, 11', and 112, or by reason -of small* differences in the cross-sections cf thestiiiisf? 2; When 1the rota,-t tiono't`mo amecarrym' te has b rou ht the initial end of tle tion to a potion ,just in advaneeof tli'e first set of molding rollers, the clamp 19 is 4 is continued until the removed, thestri s 18'and 20 are cut of at i such points as wi l co lete the lap between the initial and final en of the section, and the rotation of the frame and form ring which are similarly cut of to the proper lengthshave been embedded up tol the point where the ends of the tire section" overlap. The frames carrying the molding rollers 11, 11, 11", etc., and 12, `12, 12", 75 etc., and the framesv carrying the stitching wheels 15 t'o 15", are then moved laterally awa from the mold ring 4; the frame carrying t e said ring 4 is lifted away from the supports for the rollers 9, 9*, 9*?, etc.;. 30 the mold ring 4 is removed from its Sup. ortingl frame by retracting the clamp blocks E, an the said ring )and completed tire formed vthereon is wrapped and prepared for final treatment in the curing or vulcanizing chamber in the usual manner. Or if desired the -completed tire may be removed from the mold ring ,4 and placed -on a second rlng which carries the canvas or other base 21 (see Fig. 2) 'and the two parts, tread and '90 base, vulcanizing together at one operation.

If the completed -tire or the tread has a section other than that shown in Figs. 2 orv 4 the 'forni of the mold ring 4 and the4 form and arrangement of the molding wheels 9, 95 11, 12, etc., isof course correspondingly varied.

In Fig. 14 I show diagrammatically an other Way in which my general method'of assembling the tire/ parts maybe carried out. In this case' the triangular strlps 2- 2, are first cut to length, and laid s ide by side in a concave circular mold form22, of the size and cross-section require `forl the finished tread; and the raw 4rubb r or 105 other tread material is then rolled -down upon and over .these strips by means `ofi one or more wheels 24. Infthis` illustration of my method for tire manufacture the advan-- tage of first forming the composite strips 'v 2 2 in triangular form 's rendered veryv obviousf; since with this foln of strip there isno tendency to displacement when the body of the tread material is rolled in place', and there is no diiiiculty in completely iilling the spaces between the strips and ob tainin .a final completed structure which` is per ectly' free from cavities 'or parts of less density than is desired.

The great advantages of my improved con- 12.0v

struction) bothv as regards the structure itself and as regards the -method by which that structure 1s ['oduced --will nowbe readily apparent to t ose-skilled'in the art, and 1t Will'be also apparent that' various minor 1.215'A changes maybe made bothin the forms of the wire insertion and vin the' manner in whichthe wire elementsv are incorporated -om my invention.

triangular strips 2 'mA l l Athe tread material without departing 1 3 Y anical features of the 5 herein described, because those machine details do not form any art of the invention f which l have disclose and which I claim herein. v

What l claim is:

1.` The method of'manufacture of comi `posite vehicle tires 'ofthe kind described which consists in first bendin wire to form a series of triangular folds w ich Vare alter'- nately s read laterally in opposite directions, l ing the grooves or spaces between the alternately spread folds with plastic .tread material so as- 'strips of solid cross-section and then embedding these strips in the body of the tire material and shaping the assembled arts tothe final form required substantial y as described. 2.` The method of "manufacture of com posite anti-slipping vehicle tires which con! s'istsin first forming composite strips of solid cross-'section having a central .core of plastic material embraced on two sides by op ositelybent` wire folds, next shaping a b y of tread materialwith grooves to receivethe vsaid composite strlps and then bringing said stri together and mol g the wholeto the nal formrequired substantially as described( 3.' The 'method of manufacturing -composite wire-rubber vehicle tires whichcon` sistsin first bending wires to form a series *of triangular folds which :are alternan-elly spread laterally in opposite directions, ing the' grooves tween the alternately spread folds with plastic rubber form Acomposite wire-rubber stri cross-section, in a body of plastic tire material suitably ooved to Areceive hem and shaping the assembled ypart s(i'.o the final formrequired, and then vulcanizing the assembled parts to form one integrabwhole,v g 4. The method of manufacture ofvehicle tiresof the mnd described which consists in rst forming s of solid ted to illustrate in .de-

which I may carry tread material to form composite along one side s and grooved tread body. mal, em

soas to` then embedding ,t ese strips composite wire-rubber strips ofv solid cross-section, havin wire vfolds exposed on two side 'surfaces t ereof 'and then embedding' said strips in a body of plastic in such manner that parts of the wire are substantially flush with the surface of the assembled structnre and the intermediate parts are completelymbedded therein substantially as described. A y

5. The method of manufacture of composite wire-rubber vehicle tires which con- `-sists in first metal plating stiff wires,'bend ing said wires to form a series of triangular folds which are spread alternately in opp;- site lateral directmn's, filling the spaces tween such alternately spread folds with plastic tread material so as to form solid composite rubber-wire strips, embedding said composite strips ima body of plastic tire material, shaping'the assembled parts to the final form required, and .then subjecting the molded structure to a vulcanizaction, and thereby formn a layer of sulfid of the plating materialJ wire and .trea material.'

6. The method of making composite vehicle tires,.which consists in bending wire to form an elon ated hollow structure open om end to end, filling the structure through 'the space within saidopen side thereof with plastic tread mate-Q beddingthe-- stnp thus formed in thebody the tire to the 'iin-a1 form required.v

7 The method of making composite vehicle tires, which consists in bending wire. hollow structure open f' to form an el'ona aldng one `side om 'end to end, filling the lspace within saidstructure through the etween the 'or tread of the tire, and shaping o en side thereof withplastic tread mategig, embedding the strip thus formed in the shaping the tire tothe final form,requ1red.

or tread of the tire with the open side of t ewire structure facing outwardly, and 

